Work-Study Job Helps Pave Professional Path for Business Major Billy Crowley
Image by Ed Brennen
Student Employee of the Year Billy Crowley says his work-study job with UML's Advancement office was the perfect complement to his management information systems studies.
04/20/2021
By Ed Brennen
Crowley got his foot in the door at the computer networking company last summer as a data operations specialist intern 鈥� an opportunity that he credits to his work-study job as an assistant gift processor for UML鈥檚听Advancement听office.
鈥淚t was way more than a work-study job. I worked with databases and customer relationship management systems, and that鈥檚 how I was able to land my internship,鈥� says Crowley, who has worked for Advancement for three years, including remotely for the past year during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Crowley was recently recognized for his outstanding work by being named UML鈥檚听Student Employee of the Year.
Each year, as part of National Student Employment Week, the offices of听Student Employment听and听Financial Aid听recognize UML students who work while in school, either through the Federal Work-Study Program or in departmental and off-campus positions.
Employment supervisors are invited to nominate students for the award, which makes them eligible for state, regional and national student employee of the year honors.
This year鈥檚 ceremony 鈥� like many of the jobs themselves during the pandemic 鈥� was held remotely, with 13 student employees and their nominating supervisors attending on Zoom. Every nominee received a certificate, and Crowley got a plaque for his win.
Manager of Student Employment Candice Garabedian praised the students and supervisors for adapting to challenging circumstances, whether working from home or on campus under safety protocols.听
鈥淵ou kept doing the work and held everything together, which is a testament to you and your dedication to 51视频,鈥� she said.听
鈥淵ou kept doing the work and held everything together, which is a testament to you and your dedication to 51视频.鈥� -Manager of Student Employment Candice Garabedian on award nominees
Junior听radiological health physics听major Cassia Fontes, who works as a radiation safety inspector for the听Environmental and Emergency Management听department, was first runner-up for the award. Senior听plastics engineering听major Greg Reimonn, a microplastics student researcher in the听Francis College of Engineering, was second runner-up.
Crowley, who is from Medford, Massachusetts, started as a data entry clerk for Advancement. His work-study role evolved, he says, as he learned new database and coding skills in his business classes.
鈥淎s I went through school, I was able to become more involved and pick up bigger projects like the yearly endowment report,鈥� says Crowley, whose biggest project involved cleaning up Advancement鈥檚 donor database with Microsoft Access, a database management system.
On the morning of the award ceremony, Crowley was busy processing online gifts and sending out tax receipts for Days of Giving, the university鈥檚 annual two-day donation drive.
鈥淏illy goes above and beyond for any project we鈥檝e assigned to him, and he鈥檚 helped us so much throughout the pandemic,鈥� says Maria Panagakis, executive director of Advancement services.
鈥淭his year, in particular, Billy was a huge help with our endowment reports, updating our Access database and getting those reports out on time,鈥� adds Cindy Puleo, director of endowment and gift operations.
The other student employees nominated this year were:
Prince Acquah (studio assistant, Art & Design Department); Natalie Battle (project assistant, Provost鈥檚 Office); Samuel Claflin (undergraduate researcher, Computer Science Department); John Connery (MakerSpace student leader, Engineering Dean鈥檚 Office); Kiran Darai (peer advisor team lead, Academic Services); Kathy Le (studio assistant, Art & Design); Meaghan O鈥橞rien (office assistant, Business Dean鈥檚 Office); Emily Parsons (archival processor of the Kerouac Archive, English Department); Jessica Ross (grader, Chemistry Department); and Jacob Villeneueve (Welcome Desk staff, Student Affairs).听
With the university planning for a full return to campus in the fall, Garabedian said opportunities for on-campus student employment will be available with appropriate accommodations for health and safety. Students can apply for jobs through the Student Employment Office at uml.edu/jobhawk.
鈥淎s more information regarding office and building capacity becomes available, we will be able to provide more specific information as to the number of on-campus jobs that will be available,鈥� she says.
While he has missed working in the office 10 to 20 hours a week, Crowley is thankful that he could continue his work-study job remotely from his off-campus apartment.
鈥淚 know a lot of internships and co-ops were canceled. I was able to come back to school and keep working, help myself financially and get that experience,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 ended up in a good position when I鈥檓 graduating, and that鈥檚 all you can really ask for.鈥�